A Japanese team has developed the Omni-Crawler, a crawler-type vehicle that can move in all directions (Image: DigInfo)

The Omni-Ball disassembled (Image: DigInfo)

The Omni-Ball (Image: DigInfo)

A Japanese team has developed the Omni-Crawler, a crawler-type vehicle that can move in all directions (Image: DigInfo)

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Article Summary

When the need to move super-heavy objects arises, short, squat crawlers are usually deployed to get the job done. Unfortunately, that heavy lifting ability comes at the sacrifice of mobility (no sideways motion), so maneuvering objects into place can be a lengthy process. Recently, researchers from Japan's Osaka University (OU) rolled out an innovative battery-powered, remotely controlled prototype crawler that incorporates properties from an omni-directional wheel, the Omni-Ball (also designed by the OU team), to travel in virtually any direction desired with minimal energy loss. They dubbed it the Omni-Crawler and it's likely to change the way things are moved from now on.